Dallas-based Lantern Pharma Inc. has expanded its clinical development team with the addition of Dr. Reggie Ewesuedo as vice president of clinical development, and several additional team members.
Lantern Pharma is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company using its proprietary RADR artificial intelligence and machine learning platform to transform the cost, pace, and timeline of oncology drug discovery and development.
The startup said the expansion of the clinical development team will continue to advance the Harmonic trial, a Phase 2 trial for never smokers with NSCLC, as well as the upcoming first-in-human Phase 1 clinical trials for Lantern’s drug candidates LP-184 and LP-284, which are both anticipated to launch in mid-2023.
NSCLC is any type of epithelial lung cancer other than small cell lung cancer.
“We are looking forward to the many contributions that Dr. Ewesuedo and our expanded clinical development team will bring to Lantern and our clinical programs,” Panna Sharma, Lantern’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “They are joining Lantern at a pivotal period in our company’s growth as we advance our drug candidates into and through clinical trials. I am confident in the decades of proven experience of our new team members and their ability to progress Lantern’s drug candidates to improve the lives of cancer patients,” continued Sharma.
Experience in clinical development
Ewesuedo has more than 20 years of experience in preclinical, early, and late phase drug development including roles in clinical development leadership at AstraZeneca, Genzyme/Sanofi, Pfizer, Tesaro/GlaxoSmithKline, and Kymera.
He has helped lead the development of several drugs including the successful filings for Trazimera (trastuzumab), Nyvepria (pegfilgrastim), and Zirabev (bevacizumab), while he was at Pfizer.
He also served as a clinical research faculty member at The Ohio State University from 2000-2005.
Lantern also recently appointed Ernest Kitt as head of clinical operations. Kitt has more than 20 years of experience in oncology drug development and clinical operations with proven success in bringing drugs to market. He has held clinical oncology leadership positions at companies including Amgen/Onyx, Aptose, and Biosplice.
The startup said that other additions to the clinical development team include Annum Zhara as a senior clinical trial project manager and Brianna MacCrory as a clinical trial navigator.
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